As I've lived here for the past year and 8 months...there is a cast of characters that I have learned about that live around me. In our building and on our block/street. They are just too interesting not to share with you, so I'll give a little cast description of everyone:
-Andy is our next door neighbor...he's a real estate broker and from what I understand he gets paid a lot of money to guide investors into the right real estate deals. He's shorter, bald, and seems like he's always a tad nervous or sweaty. He about 30 years old, single and his apartment is black and white, modern, and very new york. He's always friendly to us and we have conversations on our shared balcony about once a month where he smokes while apologizing for his plants overgrowing (which we don't care about...except for the dead ones last summer b/c i thought they could start a brush fire). We've gone out for beers with him and he talks about his family that all lives in new york and how his parents drive their vespa down to the village from the uws.
-Nico lives next door to Andy...he is either always wearing a fedora or in running apparel about to go on a jog with his black and white dog that's like a small jack russell named Tito. Tito is feisty despite his size and makes a racket at Cole while Cole just steers clear of his yapping jaws. Nico is super nice, laid back and makes our floor have a constant aroma of marijuana. I have no idea what he does, but he has a new girlfriend who we meet in the elevator just about every month and is home most of the time and definitely during the day. I've never seen him look like he was going off to work. He has a red vespa that he parks on the street...that I'm jealous of.
-Erin and Beau live next door to Nico on the other end of the hallway from us. They are friends of ours and great neighbors! Erin went to Univeristy of Florida and Beau went to Bucknell...she works in PR, he played lacrosse in college and is in finance. They both moved here after college and met through friends...they moved in together here about 6 months after we moved in. They LOVE cole...erin especially and always invite us to do something fun or go out for drinks. It's fun to have neighbors to hang out with at the spur of the moment.
-John lives across the hall from us...he's a single gay man who travels all the time. He has a cat and has friends or family stay at his apartment from time to time to watch the cat while he's gone. He also bikes and stores his bike in the stairway which is interesting. He's always friendly with us and makes small talk...i'd love to know what he does b/c recently he told me his work took him to Bermuda! not bad!
-Chad lives across the hall from Erin and Beau....we don't know much about him but there are two funny things. He had a Russian wife when we first moved in named Tatiana. She had a tiny little Chihuahua and they were both well over 6 feet tall...watching him walk it was hilarious. She moved out soon after she moved in, so Nick and I think it was a green-card marriage. He certainly doesn't wear a ring now.
-Liz and Katherine live together on the first floor in an apartment with a backyard patio. I would think it would be difficult to have two people in an apartment so small that don't sleep together, but when i borrowed a phone charger one time when locked out, I saw that one bed is in the loft and the other is downstairs across from the couch...talk about a tight space and no where to put your clothes! Liz is in music producing and is so nice...she always says "come over we're having a party" or chats for a bit...Katherine is friendly too and she is how we met our dog walker, Doug (i'll get to him). They have two LARGE English bulldogs...henry and stanley...quite a house full.
-the skinny rocker and his cross-eyed girfriend live on the first floor too...she always says hi to Nick, but one time she jumped in and stole the washer while I was doing laundry, so we're not that friendly to each other. He never speaks...but you can see him either going outside to smoke a cig with his strangly hair down to his shoulders or carrying his guitar in and out of the building.
-Bob lives in the bulding next door and often sits on the stoop. He has lived on this street his entire life and I'd say he's about 80 now. He's a retired cop and gave an interview to CNN down at the world trade center the night Osama Bin Laden was killed, which I saw live on tv. He always says "hi there, how's it going?" or "how's the king?" (referreing to Cole). He sits on the stoop reading a newspaper...alone or chatting with neighbors.
-Baristas at west 11th st. cafe across the street...jacob is the most well known...super fast server and has a ton of energy. Always dressed in skinny jeans, a tight tshirt, and some type of funky hat (usually a painters hat with a hawaiian print). Always says "how you been darling?" and makes small talk with us and recognizes us when we come in for coffee or food.
-hostesses at the fancy restaurant, wallse on the corner always wave at Nick when he walks by with the dog...but never at me, haha.
-the garage guys on the street usually wave at me and say hello to Cole, but never to nick...haha.
-one particular garage guy around the corner will give Cole a treat when we pass...this created a habit for Cole to stop and look, but it became so inconsistent when he would be there that Cole now just glances over instead of pulling me.
-Doug is our dog walker who is a middle aged, retired actor from Houston who has lived in New York for a long time. I think he walks about a dozen dogs and that's his main income...he's incredibly nice but super chatty and always has advice. Like how he tells me to move to new jersey and start having babies (which would put him out of a job...) or how the other day he said "put aloe on that skin, you're too fair!" He tells me he likes coors light, not sam adams and knows the bar where you can get it the cheapest. He calls Cole "the king" without us even telling him that's what we call him sometimes. Mostly he's trustworthy and takes great care of Cole.
-ugly naked guy in the apartment directly across the street from our apartment. him and his wife don't have shades or curtains so we can see everything thing they do...which mostly includes him walking around in nothing but his boxer briefs or briefs...ugh. I have also witnessed her doing yoga in the am in nothing but a bra and underwear...really.
-the guy below the naked couple who sits on the couch and watches tv all the time. everytime i look down at their window he's sitting on the couch watching tv. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. except the time i saw him doing hoola hoop.
Extras in this cast include: (yes i'm including celebs as extras so that I can talk about my run-ins with them)
-the sushi west staff because we order delivery or pick up from them once a week and they are always nice and their sushi is always delicious!
- the guy who rides his bike with a skinnier version of cole, ollie...ollie doesn't like cole.
-peter dinklage, the actor who plays the book ceo in the movie Elf, along with many other roles. his dog kevin and cole like to play together
-julianne moore just because she lives across the street...the only interaction i had with her was when she was getting out of a car in a beauitful evening gown and cole went up to sniff her. she backed away like "please don't let him near my dress!" (in a nice way) and I smiled, pulled him back and she laughed.
-keifer sutherland just because he lives around the corner and he and his beautiful girlfriend have a yellow lab and smiled and pointed at us walking cole one time
-hugh jackman just because he lives down the street and his french bulldog, peaches and cole have sniffed each other while we were both walking our dogs
-sarah jessica parker because she lives in my neighborhood and while walking hand in hand with her two twin girls, we walked past and they reached out and called "big dog!" at cole which started her talking to them about how pretty he was, how big he was and to look at his fluffy tail.
***special thanks to cole for helping us meet all the celebs and for exisiting so that we have a dog to walk which has helped us meet most of this cast and really give west 11th st a neighborhood feel***
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